Hi all, We are building a coop soon for our new chicks and i have some concerns about rats. Recently we discovered that they are nesting at the bottom of our compost bin ( a pallett-special ) and I'm wondering if any of you with a flock of layers bother with trying to get rid of them? Or do you just live and let live? We plan to predator proof the coop and rodent proof as much as is possible, though ideas on rodent-proofing are definitely welcome... We live on a farm with barn-fuls of grain-eating animals all around us on neighbouring farms, So, the rats are here, and I wonder if it makes any sense to get rid of them by trapping etc? Our farm is certified organic, so I have to be careful about chemical controls too... What do you all do?
What the cat doesn't get, we set traps for. They've been a bigger problem for the car and truck wiring than anything else. Cost $1500 to re-wire the wifes Honda last year after a rat set up housekeeping under the hood. They also decided the air cleaner on the truck would be a good home.
I have rats under the barn office floor. Some are pretty darn big. I put up the food every night and make SURE the eggs are collected . I have traped a few of them, but lately I have used poison. It does not seem to help though. I have set up a trap in an old pet cage with the bottom taken out. The rats can get in, but the chickens can not. I open the cage and set the trap and then close and lock it. I have used cheese, cooked bacon and sweet grain. I would seriously suggest that you trap 'em cause they become a big, big problem with numbers alone. They can and will klll young chicks.
Get your self some cats and then start trapping them. Poisions are a bad idea for many reasons. Rats will come because of the food source and they will multipy like crazy. Rats carry disease and will cause all kinds of trouble. We have even had them get into our house. Another concern is rats will attract snakes since that is a food source for them. Here snakes are not a problem for us because we do snake rescues all the time but most people are scared of snakes. Just something else to thing about. Get rid of them before they become a huge problem because they will. Rimshoe is right, they will kill your young birds.
We would probably use poison to but with all my outside animals I'm terrified one would get ahold of a rat that has eaten the poison. Just not an options for us but it sure would make the job easier. Here its a non stop job. We have managed to keep them out of the house lately but we find them everywhere outside. I love when we disturb a nest around a coop and the rats start running than the chickens start chasing the rats. Great chicken T.V.
they have ground squirel traps that you set in the hole and scissor traps them. They work great! Only thing that I found that would work.
I have 3 black boxes with the green poison rings, helps control the rat effectively. And it used to be pretty bad.
